Hen-Gen wrote:Gold Partridge ♂ x Lavender, Black and Chocolate ♀s. All pullets will come black. This is because whole colours tend to be dominant to parti-colours, lavender is recessive and chocolate is sex linked. Thus all female chicks will be black. (That is unless the hens are from mixed parentage).

Hi Hen-Gen
Couple of more dopey questions!
1. what do you mean by chocolate is sex linked?
2. Do you mean that a gold partridge male with a lavender, black or chocolate would only produce black pullets? What about cockerels ?
Thanks for your time - much appreciated

No such thing as a dopey question. But there can be dopey answers, which I'll try to avoid.
So, Q1.
Some colours (eg barring, gold, chocolate) are inherited in a way known as sex linkage. This means that according to which of the two sexes is the colour in question so the colours of the resultant chicks will differ. So in the case of chocolate:-

Chocolate Cock x Black Hen gives Black (Carrier) Cocks and Chocolate Pullets
Black Cock x Chocolate Hen gives Black (Carrier) cocks and Black Pullets
This is caused by the fact that the gene for chocolate feathers is carried on the male sex chromosome (Z chromosome) and pullets always (and only) inherit a Z chromosome from their fathers, never their mothers. Cockerels, by contrast inherit a Z chromosome from each of their parents.

Q2
Yes, all pullets will be black. Basically the cockerels will be too but may show areas of gold on the sex specific areas like the hackles and the saddle.

Thanks so much Hen-Gen I think I've got it but my heads hurts!!! Might just let them get on with it and see whats come out!

Hi Jillychick just to update you on the cockerel box - have used the underlay to line the interior and still not good enough so I have decided to scrap the project and move my cockerel ambitions to the garage (I've seen on another thread that you are contemplating the same idea) I have a huge Woden brooder that I think I could utilise for my serama cockerel, although I'm still not sure if either of my chicks is male or not. If they are both hens I will look to buy one later in the summer. I'm sure I have at least 7 cockerels in my batch of 11 pekin chicks - just my luck!

Yes the plan is to keep one of any cockeral chicks that are due to hatch on Thursday I'm so excited our garage is very dark so I think some kind of nice box would help to keep him quiet in the early mornings. Not having any experience with keeping a cock bird I'm wondering what else will set him of crowing apart from daylight? If he is away from the hens will it make a difference? Will he respond to the wild birds dawn singing? What do you think?

I think the dawn chorus might be a trigger. I was thinking of using the box I made but in the garage. It's pretty good but the air holes are the source of the noise leakage - hopefully with the box in the garage the noise police next door won't have anything to hinge about! I've never kept a cockerel before - always re homed them but really like the idea. I don't really know why people get so uptight about it, it's no worse than some people's dog or the bloke up the road who uses a bench saw ALL day and when I say ALL day I mean ALL day

Yeah I know what you mean, someone round here had a cockeral I don't know who? But it went quiet after a week the local noise police in action! They miss nothing and I mean nothing! All retired with nothing else to do all day but moan. I got stoped and told off for clearing the snow at the end of MY drive! I was apparently not allowed to clear the pavement! The fact I couldn't get my car out didn't matter! Another time I got told off for allowing the wheelie bin cleaner to clean the bins outside MY house! A few choice words sorted that out so I'm probably on the hit list anyway. Now I want a cockeral so need to sort it, before the knock on the door!

Hi, i'm new to this so please be patient.
I have 5 cream legbar hens with a cream legbar cock with i hatched myself two years ago from a reputable breeder of pure cream legbars.
I bought the cock from the same breeder which is unrelated.
I hatched some of their eggs last year and out of the twenty eggs i hatched i got four white chicks.
The chicks grew into what looks like white crested legbars and have now started laying blue eggs.
Can someone please tell me if i have got a new breed or explain what has happened.
thanks,
billythekid

Sort of
Both the gene for crestedness and the gene for blue eggs are dominant genes so cannot be carried invisibly. If a hen has them then it will have a crest or lay blue, or green, eggs. But White Leghorns have a raft of genes to make them a clean, sparkly white, one of which is a gene called recessive white. As it's name suggests this can be carried invisibly and can reappear generations later if the bird is mated to one that also carries a copy of that gene.
This same phenomenon is why two brown eyed human parents can produce a blue eyed child. By contrast if two blue eyed parents produce a brown eyed child then it is either a very rare mutation or a dalliance with the milkman